This week, I taped an episode of a very popular talk show. They have extremely strict guidelines about what I can and cannot say about the show, so I am being very careful with this blog post. The show won’t air for a few months and I am not supposed to talk about it until then. However, because I have a big mouth, I have taken great pains to edit out everything that will get me in trouble. This is what my day of taping for a nationally syndicated talk show was like. Can you guess which show I did? Don’t worry, I will make sure you all know the official air date.
5:45 am My alarm goes off and I immediately hit snooze.
5:50 am My alarm goes off again and I think, “Why the hell did I agree to do a talk show?”
6:52 am I curl my eyelashes because I’m gonna be on TV, dammit. (Thanks for the new eyelash curler, Marlene.)
7:15 am The car from the show picks me up at my apartment in Queens. I feel fancy.
7:50 am I arrive at the studio on 66th St. and West End Avenue where I am greeted by a production assistant who takes me to my dressing room which is very impressive. There are bottles of water, a very large fruit plate and some type of mini muffins. I take selfies. I feel fancy.
7:52 am Another production assistant arrives to tell me I am in the wrong dressing room and takes me across the hall to the correct space. There is no fruit plate or mini muffins. Just water and a gift bag. I feel deflated.
8:05 am One of the producers shows up to say hello and go over everything I am to talk about. This is when I realize that they for sure are not going to let me use the word “bitchy” or mention my book. I mean, they had mentioned that earlier, but I was really hoping things would change.
8:20 am A wardrobe person shows up to approve what I am wearing. Turns out, it’s an acquaintance of my husband. Small world. She likes what I am wearing because duh, I look fabulous.
8:30 am I meet another producer who then takes me to set to show me where I will be sitting. I sit on a stool and wait for my turn to go over my bit with the great and powerful talk show host.
8:37 am I meet him. We shake hands. We rehearse. He is gone.
8:45 am I am in hair and make up. The hair lady looks at my hair and I say, “This is all it will do. Trust me.” She agrees and sprays some oil on it to make it look shiny. The makeup woman piles an enormous amount of concealer under my eyes and I feel her judging me for having too many cocktails the night before and not going to bed early. She does not even notice my curled eyelashes.
9:10 am I meet with the first producer again to go over my talking points. It is again confirmed that my blog will be called “B-word Waiter” and we will not be mentioning my book. I flash back to 5:45 this morning and wish I would have turned the alarm off instead of hitting snooze, because this appearance is going to do very, very little for me, my blog or my book. I take an extra bottle water and stuff it into my bag. I deserve it.
9:40 am I see a sign taped on the mirror telling me how I can and cannot tell people about my appearance on the show. Only 7 days before and 7 days after, that’s it. I cannot embed video. I cannot link to YouTube or any other video. I have to use exact words if I Tweet or Facebook about it. I can only liink to the show’s website and it can only be from my own website. I cannot use the host’s name or likeness. It’s almost like they don’t want me to talk about it.
9:45 am I am taken upstairs along with the other two people in my segment; two chefs, one of which I learn is going to talk about something I did not feel comfortable talking about because I didn’t think it was something that really happened very often or at all in restaurants. But I guess he was cool with saying it, so more power to him.
9:47 am We are sitting on chairs outside the studio, both of them taking selfies and me wishing I had brought my phone upstairs.
9:50 am I am taken to my stool and the show begins. I wait for Mr. Talk Show Host to come to the other stool and have a conversation with me. I look at the audience who all seem very excited to be there and some of them look at me with disappointment in their face that I am not someone famous. I am not nervous. I am sleepy and want a nap.
9:58 am He is coming toward me. We are taping. It’s happening. My mind is going over all the things I am supposed to say and I decide that I am going to mention my book myself, because fuck it. He is here. We are talking. I am trying to be funny and animated but serious at the same time. When will I mention my book? How will I do this? When can I fit it in? Will they edit it out if I do it?
10:02 am He’s gone. I did not mention my book. It went so fast. I am kicking myself that I didn’t say anything about the book. The stage managers waves me over. I am done.
10:07 am On a quick break, we take a photo with Mr. Great and Powerful.
10:09 am I am back in my dressing room and told my car will be there shortly to take me home. I take a selfie with my coffee mug and put it into my bag along with another bottle of water.
10:20 am. My car is here. I am taken to it and get in. The driver proceeds to tell me how all of the day before he drove Anderson Cooper around who was doing appearances for his book all over the city and Long Island. I assume Andersn got to mention the name of his book at said appearances. The driver keeps talking about Anderson Cooper and it feels like he is rubbing it in that I did not get to talk about my book.
10:48 am I am home. I peel off my clothes, wash off the makeup from my face, put the coffee mug in the dishwasher, put the two bottled waters in the fridge and take a two hour nap on the couch with my dog.
Johannes Bols
I’m so sorry you had to interact w/Doctah Ozzie. He’s a tool. A grinding tewell. I would’ve gone straight to a fumigator to wash his aura offa me. But you rose above it and survived!
Congrats on hearing all about Anderson Cooper. At least you got to where you are without being a big old nepo baby, baby!
sally
I can’t stand that stupid Dr Oz. His show is nauseating and not just because he talks about shit all the time. He’s a lying shyster POS.
GL
BW, I love reading your blog; I bought and devoured your book. Keep writing! 🙂 and thank you for my iv of bitchy.
Jeri Velgreen
Hubris, table for one.
Barreleh
‘I feel fancy’
LOVE LOVE LOVE that.
Jimmy C
That’s one ugly waiter/waitress, whichever it is…couldn’t tell. If a waiter and you have a “husband” don’t touch my food!
outhousecat
Bitchy’s too classy for that. Now if it were me, I’d scratch my ass and then stick my finger right in the middle of your crappy meal, several times in fact. Enjoy your meal, you miserable homophobic fuck.
Tommy
Dick
Dawnie
You’re just an unhappy person who wakes up every morning trying to make happy people feel like as big a piece of shit that you obviously are.
Kim C.
Bitchy, your eyelashes looked fabulous.
Sharon
The only reason Billy Crystal called Billy Bush “the most annoying person in Hollywood” is the fact he had not met “the great and powerful Oz”.
If they put those two on the same show the ennui would cause all life as we now know it to cease to exist.
her e fish
It’s Dr Oz
CincyDrunk
Ugh. I hope not. I hate Dr. Oz and most daytime television that isnt Maury and Steve Wilkos. (i might not have cable or netflix. oh, and i hate maury and steve too. ?) DR. OZ, THERE IS NO SUPERFOOD THAT EVERYONE CAN EAT AND BE IN GREAT HEALTH. YOU JUST EAT HEALTHY!
….Me? I like tacos. Fuck your unsalted almonds and quinoa.
CincyDrunk
oh and i really meant to add YAY BITCHY FOR MAKING IT ON TV. again lol i loved you on dr. phil ❤️❤️❤️
Grace
Sorry, but it definitely is. I was thinking Dr Oz before the final two pictures and they cemented it. That’s totally his hair and you can see the left side of the O and the right side of the Z not quite pixellated on the mug 😛
GS
What was in the gift bag?!
Nanc
Yes–dish, we want to know what the great and powerful [not the wizard of] Oz gifts the guests!
Joey B
Fuck their rules . You are my hero , my Spidey Man of Gotham City , and You Sir are real . Fuck their flimsy trickster world of day time tv . And their corporate bullshit rules .We all love you Bitchy , you gave us a voice . I been following you since 2012 . I have no words to tell you -how important it was to have a minute on your blog . I wasn’t in a good place for a very long time , but your blog helped me a great deal .Fuck their fruit plate . In my house You would sit at top of the table and I would wait on you ( and I’m a great cook -chef actually ) How dare they : ” don’t mention your book “. Fuck these creatures ! You don’t need their endorsement , cuz we already know about you , but we not gonna watch that show ( I won’t ) . You are a personality & talent & you have the courage to put it out there & risk your daily employment to give all us servers / cooks / busboys / dishwashers a VOICE . I Joey B . Salute You ! Don’t ever stop Bitchy . We love you more than you can imagine . You made me a better person .